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Known for its extraordinarily reasonable prices and beautiful ambience, the Utpala Café at Boudha is a sanctuary amid Kathmandu’s chaos.

The multi-cuisine vegetarian restaurant, initially a canteen for the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery (Seto Gumba), was changed in the “hope of serving at least one vegetarian meal a day at reasonable price.”

With outdoor seating in a traditionally inspired ambience, Utpala is most famous for its vegetarian buffet that consists of 12+ dishes with main course, bakery, fruits, soup, salad and more at the most reasonable price of Rs 350 a person. Utpala is also vegan-certified where most of the food from the menu can be customized into vegan offerings as per request.

Location: Boudha
Chef’s Special:
1) Crispy Mushroom Salad 
2) Cheesy Potato Burger with Onion Rings
3) Meringue Cake 
Chef Deepankar 
Opening hrs: 7 am to 7 pm
Cards: Accepted
Reservation: 9810700763/9865919090
Meal for 2: Rs 700

Khalti Digital Wallet in collaboration with the official distributor of TVS for Nepal, Jagadamba Motors, has introduced the facility to make EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) payments online via the Khalti app.

The service was introduced to encourage customers to make digital payments amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

With this service, customers no longer have to face the hassle of visiting the TVS showrooms to pay their bills. They can easily make EMI payments for all types of TVS vehicles like motorcycles, scooters, and tempos from home via Khalti.

Similarly, Khalti has set up Khalti QR for customers’ convenient payment through which they can also make payments from wallets and banks associated with Union Pay.

To make EMI payments online above Rs 5,000 with Khalti, users must get their Khalti KYC verified first.

Leapfrog—a prominent technology company based in Nepal—will organize a three-day online conference starting August 20 featuring speakers from top global companies such as Amazon and Google among others. During “Syntax 2021”, the speakers will share their ideas and experience around building world-class software and products.

“Syntax 2021 is an opportunity for tech enthusiasts to foster conversations that shape the modern IT world. It is a platform to share well-formed thoughts, ideas, and experiences on trending topics related to IT and tech industries,” the company said.

The free event is open to anyone already working or trying to enter the field of tech, IT, and innovation, preferably with a professional experience of about two years. Registration is mandatory and limited. It can be done by August 17 here https://syntax.lftechnology.com/

Complacency is proving to be deadly. The ratio of corona-positives in daily tests is again over 25 percent, which means at least one of every four of us has the Covid-19 virus. The total number of covid deaths, meanwhile, has crossed 10,000.

This isn’t a surprise. Under 10 percent of the population is fully vaccinated yet most folks seem to have thrown caution to the wind. Masks are being ditched. Few are now using the once fashionable hand sanitizer. Public vehicles are crowded again.  

Yes, the vaccination rate is up, as reportedly around 200,000 a day are being administered. Vaccines are also arriving from abroad in large quantities. Yet that does not mean we are safe. Even the fully vaccinated are showing troubling covid symptoms as the virus continues to mutate. For the rest, they simply don’t seem to care. Having had enough of being locked down in their homes, they are breaking free with abandon. Covid numbers are shooting up all over the country and empty ICU beds are again starting to fill up. Authorities meanwhile seem to be groping for a coherent response.

On August 10, the covid-restrictions in Kathmandu valley were extended till August 24, with a new provision that bars non-essential vehicles from plying after 8 pm. But that means little when nearly all establishments have been allowed to open, in clear violation of the restrictive measures. Our local, provincial, and federal authorities, it appears, are happy to be seen as doing something—anything.

Corona-related restrictions are tricky and hard to get right. Health is important but so is getting back to your professional and academic routines, which, when disrupted for long enough, can invite their own set of challenges. The missing ingredient in effective corona control in the past year and a half was trust. Still, not much is being done to regain that all-important component of the social contract between those governing and the governed. And without it, even the best of plans will fail. 

Citing Nepal Rastra Bank regulations, Nepal Investment Bank limited has been found to be deducting one percent as “tax deduction at source” (TDS) charge on remittances received from Google and Facebook. The bank reportedly sent notices to customers who receive money through Google and Facebook, informing them that their payments will be stopped because of an NRB circular. 

A female customer at NIBL’s New Road Branch alleged that her money was withheld by the bank for no reason. She was told to submit her PAN to the bank or her payments would not be deposited into her account. NRB officials, however, inform that they haven’t issued any such circular that allows remittance-receiving banks to deduct TDS. If any bank is doing so, it is illegal, they say.

When Nepal Pukar, a local media outlet reportedly asked Uma Shankar Adhikari from NIBL, who sent out circulars to various branches, he initially replied that it was an order from the Ministry of Finance. When told that the ministry does not send any such circulars to private banks, Adhikari pointed the finger at NRB.

Private sector banks in Nepal, all of which operate under NRB’s guidance, are not allowed to add financial burden on the customers under any pretext. However, NIBL, a reputed A-grade commercial bank with a huge customer base, has apparently been doing so.

Birth: 1951, Palpa
Death: 2021, Bangkok

These days, Kathmandu valley is brimful with fast-food joints. It was a completely different case three decades ago, when, in 1991, Shyam Sunderlal Kakshapati established the first ‘The Bakery Café’ outlet at Teendhara. In doing so, he laid the first pillar of Nepal’s fast food culture.

The trailblazing businessman and co-founder of the famed Nanglo Restaurant, Kakshapati passed away on August 9 at a hospital in Bangkok. There, Kakshapati, 70, had been undergoing treatment for oral cancer for the past four months.

Kakshapati was born in Palpa district, into a family involved in garment and retail business. After his father’s death, the family moved to Kathmandu. It was here that he ventured into the businesses that would come to define him.

In his mid-teens, he opened Sam’s Grocery Shop at Ratnapark. The shop thrived as its candies and orange juice became sought-after novelties.

By this time, he had recognized that Nepal didn’t have a restaurant-going culture. So in 1973, a determined Kakshapati set up Cafe de Park, right next to Ranipokhari. It soon became a popular hang-out for young college students. In 1976, along with his brother Gopal, he started Nanglo at Durbarmarg.

The restaurant became popular among Kathmandu’s residents as it catered to a diverse clientele, hosting families and businessmen. Five years later, he started the popular Nanglo Chinese Room as well. Nanglo’s success over the years resulted in its expansion in and outside Kathmandu valley. Then came The Bakery Café.

In 1997, Kakshapati broke with tradition to employ 12 people with hearing disabilities at the café’s New Baneshwor outlet—having trained them himself. The chain now has nine outlets and over 40 hearing-impaired employees.

The man behind the Riverside Spring Resort in Kurintar was elected the president of the Hotel Association of Nepal in 2012.

Kakshapati spearheaded other ventures as well, albeit with comparably less success. The Nanglo Bazaar, a supermarket at Putalisadak, was a failed venture, as were his yellow Hyundai taxis that he introduced in Kathmandu in 1994. His Shuvatara School had to be shut this May after being buffeted by Covid-19 lockdowns. 

Kakshapati shall be remembered as an astute restaurateur and a driven businessman who left an indelible mark on Nepal’s restaurant culture. He is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.

Actor Anmol KC has signed for the upcoming action thriller movie ‘X9’ which is to be directed by Mukunda Bhatta, best known for his direction of ‘Lappan Chhappan.’ The actor had been talking to the team for months.

The Golden Hills Pictures’ film will go into production from January and will be shot at multiple locations including in Canada, the UAE and Europe. Along with KC, the audience will also see Saugat Malla, Pushpa Khadka, Anoop Bikram Shahi and Raj Katuwal on the big screen.

Nestled in a quiet neighborhood in Baneswor Heights (Mid-Baneswor), locating the Mojo Boutique Hotel is not so easy at first. So we recommend you use Google Maps or call the hotel to guide you there. But once you’ve found the Mojo, you’ll start finding reasons to get back there, again and again.

We know you want to sit outdoors and Mojo’s garden area is perfect for you to have your breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks. The multi-cuisine restaurant offers a wide variety of food and drinks at reasonable prices. As if that was not enough, Mojo is also known to throw in lucrative offers for its guests to make their visit more exciting and easy on the pockets. Where else in Kathmandu can you have a lavish breakfast buffet for Rs 200? 

Mojo Boutique Hotel, Mid-Baneswor
Chef’s Special:
Roasted Goat Chop
Superman Meatball Pizza
Cream Spaghetti Carbonara 
Reservation: 014470613
Opening hours: 7am to 9pm
Meal for two: Rs 1500